Payton Mount To Participate in Hockey Canada Under-17 Development Camp

Kent, June 11, 2018 – Seattle Thunderbirds right wing Payton Mount is one of 28 players in the Western Hockey League invited by Hockey Canada to attend Canada’s national under-17 development camp as the road to the 2018 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge begins. There are 111 players from the CHL taking part in the camp.

The camp will take place from July 21-27 in at the Markin MacPhail Centre at WinSport’s Canada Olympic Park Calgary, Alta.

Mount played six regular season games in 2017-18 and registered an assist. He played in five playoffs games against the Everett Silvertips but did not register a point. Mount was the T-Birds first round selection, 19th overall, in the 2017 Bantam Draft and signed with the team on June 13, 2017.

The breakdown by WHL players includes four goaltenders, 10 defencemen, and 14 forwards. For many of the WHL players invited to the camp, it won’t be their first time attending the Markin MacPhail Centre at WinSport. Of the 28 WHL drafted players invited to July’s camp, 26 participated in the 2017 WHL Cup, featuring eight players from British Columbia, who won gold at the event, including golden-goal scorer Ben King, a forward prospect of the Swift Current Broncos.

For the duration of the week-long camp, the CHL players – 12 goaltenders, 36 defencemen, and 63 forwards – will be split into six teams for on- and off-ice training, fitness testing, practices, intrasquad games, and classroom sessions.

From the other provinces in Western Canada, Alberta boasts the highest total with 13 players from the Wild Rose province while four came from Saskatchewan, and three more from Manitoba.

A quartet of Alberta players invited to the camp also led the 2017 WHL Cup in scoring. Crnkovic led all players with 12 points (3G-9A) while McClennon finished with 10 points (6G-4A). The highest-scoring defenceman from the tournament, Guhle recorded nine points (5G-4A) and forward Jake Neighbours (Airdrie, Alta. / Edmonton Oil Kings) rounded out the top four for scoring with seven points (1G-6A). Overall, 18 of the 28 WHL players invited were selected in the first round of the 2017 WHL Bantam Draft.

Dylan Garand (Victoria, B.C. / Kamloops Blazers) is the lone goaltender to have already made his WHL debut. Additionally, 18 of the skaters invited to the camp have already made their WHL debuts.

Brad McEwen, head scout for Hockey Canada, was responsible for all player selections, with assistance from regional scouts Carl Bouchard (Quebec), Barclay Branch (Ontario), Vancouver Giants general manager Barclay Parneta (West), Darren Sutherland (Atlantic), and Darrell Woodley (Ontario), as well as member representatives.

“The national under-17 development camp provides a unique opportunity for players to learn about what it takes to be part of Team Canada alongside the best young talent in the country,” said Shawn Bullock, Hockey Canada’s senior manager of hockey operations and men’s national teams. “The players are here with the ultimate goal of wearing the Team Canada jersey in international competition, and we are supporting them in that goal by providing the on- and off-ice experiences they need to develop and grow as high-performance athletes.”

Following the development camp, players will continue to be evaluated through the early season before 66 are named to one of three Canadian national teams – Team Canada Black, Team Canada Red, and Team Canada White – who will compete at the 2018 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge scheduled for Nov. 3-10 in Saint John and Quispamsis, N.B.

This year, all 111 players have been drafted by Canadian Hockey League teams, including 54 from the Ontario Hockey League, 28 from the Western Hockey League, and 28 from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

Media accreditation for the Team Canada Summer Showcase taking place at WinSport’s Markin MacPhail Centre that includes Canada’s national under-17 development camp can be requested online. The full camp schedule will be available at a later date at HockeyCanada.ca.

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